African dagger Somali / Danakil?

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Bill

Nice find. Spring work is similar to what is on my gile hilt. You can see the wire in the center of the coil anchoring it down to the hilt. As for yours it is the same dagger in both photos all the corrosion spots match perfectly


Lew

Nice Gille, Lew. Great patina!

I am curious about why makers of these weapons put such fragile spring wirework in such a vulnerable place as a hilt. Maybe that is why so many are missing?

I about fell off the sofa when I saw that picture of my dagger! As to the corrosion, I almost cleaned it off when I got the piece. Guess this is a good argument for not cleaning pieces!

I am getting the African weapons fever. Have been buying African artifacts for a while. Nice to have some weapons that go with the same cultures. Guess I need to find some Somali and Danakil pieces.